FiiO BTR7 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

[RodU]

I've been reading audiosciencereview posts for a few years now. Became a new member a couple of months ago. Excellent reviews. I decided to upgrade my portable dac/amp to the FiiO BTR7 after reading Amirm's review. Bought the option with the Lightning/USB-C cable from Amazon. It came without the cable and after chatting with support, they sent me one (it took almost 2 weeks to receive). Meanwhile, I installed the FiiO app and upgraded the firmware to the latest available at that time. I loved everything about, sound is very natural even using BT.

However, after receiving and connecting it using the usb, I began to have issues. First, at one point when the battery was completely drained, it made a really loud screeching sound, I mean really loud, so much that I had to quickly removed my headphones. I do not listen to music very loud, but this was like an awful loudest sound! Then, I tried charging the device and it wouldn't charge, I made sure the switch was set to charge, nothing. After several tries and frustration, it finally began to charge. I did a reset and began to use it again. Then, something strange began to happen, when the beginning of the songs would start with some weird static noises, and/or would cut off the first few seconds of the songs. After a couple of weeks of trying to resolve this issues, I decided to return it and get a refund. I'll be purchasing the Topping G5 in a couple of weeks.

Regarding the FiiO BTR7's overall sound, I would give it a 5 starts rating, I mostly listen to Jazz, Latin Jazz, Fusion, some contemporary Jazz at normal levels, and I try to look for Hi-Res files, using Apple Music. Its sound is beautiful and it made me want to continue to listen for hours. However, because of all the issues I encountered, I'm not sure if I would recommend it. Maybe I got a defective unit? (quality control issues?) I don't know, but it was frustrating, aggravating and annoying to say the least.

Thank you Amirm for your reviews, and all the helpful comments from members.

 

[SONYES]

I've been reading audiosciencereview posts for a few years now. Became a new member a couple of months ago. Excellent reviews. I decided to upgrade my portable dac/amp to the FiiO BTR7 after reading Amirm's review. Bought the option with the Lightning/USB-C cable from Amazon. It came without the cable and after chatting with support, they sent me one (it took almost 2 weeks to receive). Meanwhile, I installed the FiiO app and upgraded the firmware to the latest available at that time. I loved everything about, sound is very natural even using BT.

However, after receiving and connecting it using the usb, I began to have issues. First, at one point when the battery was completely drained, it made a really loud screeching sound, I mean really loud, so much that I had to quickly removed my headphones. I do not listen to music very loud, but this was like an awful loudest sound! Then, I tried charging the device and it wouldn't charge, I made sure the switch was set to charge, nothing. After several tries and frustration, it finally began to charge. I did a reset and began to use it again. Then, something strange began to happen, when the beginning of the songs would start with some weird static noises, and/or would cut off the first few seconds of the songs. After a couple of weeks of trying to resolve this issues, I decided to return it and get a refund. I'll be purchasing the Topping G5 in a couple of weeks.

Regarding the FiiO BTR7's overall sound, I would give it a 5 starts rating, I mostly listen to Jazz, Latin Jazz, Fusion, some contemporary Jazz at normal levels, and I try to look for Hi-Res files, using Apple Music. Its sound is beautiful and it made me want to continue to listen for hours. However, because of all the issues I encountered, I'm not sure if I would recommend it. Maybe I got a defective unit? (quality control issues?) I don't know, but it was frustrating, aggravating and annoying to say the least.

Thank you Amirm for your reviews, and all the helpful comments from members.

I think you have a defective unit. Mine is perfect. Ok I have an issue with the unit showing the correct battery percentage after charging but if i plug in the cable again or restart the BTR7 it shows the correct percentage.

The sound is awesome with my SONY MDR-Z7 cans.
It can easily drive them. Soundstage are huge. Very wide and very tall and deep.
There are a difference between LDAC at the highest setting (Forced 990 Kbps in android) and the wired connection.
Wired the sound from BTR7 are more clear and detailed and the soundstage is bigger.

The bass together with the MDR-Z7 are precise and deep, the midtones balanced and the treble just amazing.
It's mind-blowing how good voices are sounding on some recordings.
So if you like something like Rebecca Pidgeon, Bruce Springsteen, Grace Jones, David O'Dowda, Jacob Bellens, Steely Dan, or Agnes Obel you are in for a treat.

BTW i feel the MDR-Z7 are vastly underrated. I have listened to ie. Meze Elite and soundstage wise it's not far off and Bass are much better on the SONY.

To get back to the topic. BTR 7 are an amazing DAC. If you can, get it.

 

[RodU]

I think you have a defective unit. Mine is perfect. Ok I have an issue with the unit showing the correct battery percentage after charging but if i plug in the cable again or restart the BTR7 it shows the correct percentage.

The sound is awesome with my SONY MDR-Z7 cans.
It can easily drive them. Soundstage are huge. Very wide and very tall and deep.
There are a difference between LDAC at the highest setting (Forced 990 Kbps in android) and the wired connection.
Wired the sound from BTR7 are more clear and detailed and the soundstage is bigger.

The bass together with the MDR-Z7 are precise and deep, the midtones balanced and the treble just amazing.
It's mind-blowing how good voices are sounding on some recordings.
So if you like something like Rebecca Pidgeon, Bruce Springsteen, Grace Jones, David O'Dowda, Jacob Bellens, Steely Dan, or Agnes Obel you are in for a treat.

BTW i feel the MDR-Z7 are vastly underrated. I have listened to ie. Meze Elite and soundstage wise it's not far off and Bass are much better on the SONY.

To get back to the topic. BTR 7 are an amazing DAC. If you can, get it.

Yes, regarding the FiiO BTR7, I'm 100% in agreement when it comes to its performance, at least for my listening profile. I loved it while it worked, it made me want to continue listening for hours; its bass detail, midtones and treble are truly amazing as you said, very natural, spacious and neutral sound. Add to this all its other features and you truly get a magnificent music listening experience. The more I read from different sources, the more I'm convinced that I got a defective unit.

In any event, I purchased and received the Topping G5 and I've been using it for almost 2 weeks. The sound is different, but beautiful in its own way. extreme details, not as spacious as the BTR7. I can't wait for the next listening session, love to close my eyes and pay attention to each musical instrument. The only complain is its weight and size (compared to the BTR7) but it's not really inconvenient when I'm at home. I can only turn the volume nob 1/4 of the way or less, setting the gain to medium. I'm thinking of buying the Fiio BTR7 again and use it when I need more portability. Also waiting for a review on the new FiiO FT3 headphones to pair them with the BRT7.

 

[bkjernisted]

Is it okay to run the earstudio es100 mk2 at 100 db on the editon xs which has a sensitivity of 92 DB?

 

[staticV3]

Is it okay to run the earstudio es100 mk2 at 100 db on the editon xs which has a sensitivity of 92 DB?

WDYM by "is it ok"? It's it possible? Safe? Healthy?

 

[ehabheikal]

Anything you want. The limit is 10 bands, that's about it. Outside of that you have all the freedom.

There is no shelf filter in mine. Or am i blind?

 

[jackdanyal]

everybody talks about PEQ (why even by audiophile device if you need PEQ?), but nobody talks about sound and comparisons. Just curious why somebody will buy a device with a dedicated DAC chip and bother with EQ that adds software interference to the sound and return the sound quality back to a non-DAC sound. completely nonsense

 

[ehabheikal]

everybody talks about PEQ (why even by audiophile device if you need PEQ?), but nobody talks about sound and comparisons. Just curious why somebody will buy a device with a dedicated DAC chip and bother with EQ that adds software interference to the sound and return the sound quality back to a non-DAC sound. completely nonsense

Try it and room correction and see why.

 

[skfalco]

everybody talks about PEQ (why even by audiophile device if you need PEQ?), but nobody talks about sound and comparisons. Just curious why somebody will buy a device with a dedicated DAC chip and bother with EQ that adds software interference to the sound and return the sound quality back to a non-DAC sound. completely nonsense

I think you are in the wrong forum jeje

 

[skfalco]

I am looking to upgrade from my Qudelix 5k to this BTR7 but I am a little worried about the btr7's PEQ is is true you can't save presets? And is it full of bugs?

 

[Phoney]

I am looking to upgrade from my Qudelix 5k to this BTR7 but I am a little worried about the btr7's PEQ is is true you can't save presets? And is it full of bugs?

Why the "upgrade" if I may ask? The Qudelix PEQ is about as good as it gets, and the unit is also smaller. I considered this change myself, but I couldn't really find a good reason for it.

 

[VariousArtists]

BTR7’s PEQ makes me angry every time I tried to use it, it’s tedious, easy to lose all your progress by accident, and it does not have high/low shelf, which is why I stopped bothering

 

[m8o]

@amirm Hello, just a quick note of an oddity on the search feature of the Reviews Index section related to this.

When I search for FiiO or BTR with the option of "Auto" or "Any" on this page:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Reviews/ >> Audio Electronics

... FiiO BTR7 is not included in the results list.